REVEREND HORTON HEAT

ABOUT

ONLINE SALES FOR THIS SHOW HAVE ENDED. TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE VENUE DOOR TONIGHT!

• 18+ with photo ID
• The Loft is a general admission, standing room venue

Loaded .38s, space heaters, and big skies. Welcome to the lethal littered landscape of Jim Heath’s imagination. True to his high evangelical calling, Jim is a Revelator, both revealing & reinterpreting the country-blues-rock roots of American music. He’s a time-travelling space-cowboy on a endless interstellar musical tour, and we are all the richer & “psychobillier” for getting to tag along.

Seeing REVEREND HORTON HEAT live is a transformative experience. Flames come off the guitars. Heat singes your skin. There’s nothing like the primal tribal rock & roll transfiguration of a Reverend Horton Heat show. Jim becomes a slicked-back 1950′s rock & roll shaman channeling Screamin’ Jay Hawkins through Buddy Holly, while Jimbo incinerates the Stand-Up Bass like Jerry Lee Lewis on steroids. And then there are the “Heatettes”. Those foxy rockabilly chicks dressed in poodle-skirts and cowboy boots dreamily dancing the night away. It’s like being magically transported into a Teen Exploitation picture from the 1950′s that’s currently taking place in the future.

Listening to the REVEREND HORTON HEAT is tantamount to injecting pure musical nitrous into the hot-rod engine of your heart. The Reverend’s commandants are simple. Rock hard, drive fast, and live true. And no band on this, or any other, planet rocks harder, drives faster, or lives truer than the Reverend Horton Heat. These “itinerant preachers” actually practice what they preach. They live their lives by the Gospel of Rock & Roll.

From the High-Octane Spaghetti-Western Wall of Sound in “Big Sky” — to the dark driving frenetic paranoia of “400 Bucks” – to the brain-melting Western Psychedelic Garage purity of “Psychobilly Freakout” — The Rev’s music is the perfect soundtrack to the Drive-In Movie of your life.

Jim Heath & Jimbo Wallace have chewed up more road than the Google Maps drivers. For twenty-five Psychobilly years, they have blazed an indelible, unforgettable, and meteoric trail across the American musical landscape with their unique blend of musical virtuosity, legendary showmanship, and mythic imagery.

Okay it’s time for me to put this loaded gun down, jump in my Five-Oh Ford, and nurture my pig on the outskirts of Houston. I’ll be bringing my love whip. See y’all later.

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Wayne Hancock is that rare breed of traditionalist, one who imbues his retro obsessions with such high energy and passion that his songs never feel like museum pieces he's trying desperately to preserve. Hancock is most often compared to Hank Williams, and he can indeed be a hardcore honky tonker, but there's more to him than that: he also displays a genuine affinity for stomping rockabilly, Western swing, blues, and old-timey country à la Jimmie Rodgers. Plus, he also throws in the occasional pop standard in the manner of Willie Nelson's classic Stardust album. Hancock's devotion to classic country sounds, coupled with his strong aversion to the Nashville hit-making machine, earned him an ardent following among alternative country fans (from both the country and rock sides of the movement), as well as a fair amount of critical acclaim. Wayne "The Train" Hancock was born May 1, 1965, and began writing songs around age 12. His family moved around a lot during his childhood, and often sang to entertain themselves. Hancock started playing juke joints around Texas as a teenager, and at age 18 won a prestigious talent competition, the Wrangler Country Showdown; however, he was unable to reap the benefits, having just enlisted in the Marines. After six years in the military, Hancock returned to Texas and began playing around the state wherever he could, working odd jobs on the side to help make ends meet. Eventually tiring of his itinerant existence, Hancock moved to West Dallas in 1993, and shortly thereafter settled in the music mecca of Austin. In 1994, he got a part in the musical theater production Chippy, where he performed alongside progressive country legends Joe Ely, Butch Hancock (no relation), Robert Earl Keen, and Terry Allen. He also made his recorded debut on the soundtrack album Songs From Chippy. Thanks to that bit of exposure, Hancock was able to score a deal with the small Texas indie label Deja Disc. His debut album, Thunderstorms and Neon Signs, was produced by steel guitar legend Lloyd Maines and released in 1995. Critics fawned over the album, particularly the Hank Williams-ish title track, and despite being on a tiny label with limited distribution, it sold over 20,000 copies, mostly through word of mouth. It's success attracted the attention of the somewhat larger indie Ark 21, which signed Hancock for his second album, That's What Daddy Wants. Issued in 1997, the record found Hancock employing elaborate, horn-driven arrangements and delving more deeply into rockabilly and Western swing, which earned some comparisons to the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Reviews were again highly positive, and Ark 21 accordingly reissued Hancock's debut. His third album, Wild, Free & Reckless, had more traditional country instrumentation, full of fiddles and steel guitars, and accordingly was more reminiscent of pre-rock & roll country boogie. Hancock subsequently switched to the alt-country hub Bloodshot Records, debuting in 2001 with A-Town Blues, which continued the more stripped-down approach of his most recent music. That same year he released the limited-edition EP South Austin Sessions. Hancock dug even deeper into his honky tonk roots with his next album, 2003's Swing Time, recorded live during a two-night stand at the Continental Club in Austin. In 2006, Hancock turned in Tulsa, his third full-length recording for Bloodshot, with Lloyd Maines remaining in the producer's chair. A fourth album for the label, Viper of Melody, appeared in 2009.